1. Field of the Invention
The invention generally relates to shifter assemblies for vehicle transmissions. More specifically, the invention relates to a device to restrict certain movement of a shifter assembly between a first mode and a second mode.
2. Description of Related Art
It is commonly known to use a shifter assembly in a vehicle to select between a plurality of gears of a transmission of the vehicle. Some currently available vehicles are equipped with shifter assemblies that allow selection of different modes of operation of the transmission. For example, a first mode may be an automatic mode of the transmission and a second mode may be a manual mode of the transmission.
Some shifter assemblies are designed with a P-R-N-D-M (Park-Reverse-Neutral-Drive-Manual) shift pattern. When a user attempts to shift the shift lever from the Park, the Reverse, or the Neutral position to the Drive position, the user can unintentionally shift the shift lever beyond the Drive position to the Manual position.
Blocking mechanisms are used to prevent the shift lever from inadvertently entering into the second, or in the example above Manual, mode. The prior art blocking mechanism can, at times, be complicated to operate, occupy excessive space and/or be unable to handle repeated engagement from the shift lever.
As such, there remains an opportunity to design a shifter assembly having a blocking mechanism that is relatively simple, compact and can handle repeated engagement from the shift lever.